Um where did she go?
by mayflower222
Summary: Alia Lee is very confused. She has been disappearing left and right, literally. Feeling frustrated, Alia finds herself going to Camp Half-Blood. There, Alia is claimed by her godly parent and is sent on a quest. Things aren't the way they seem, though. Be ready for another demigod story, but with a few plot twists. Hint: There's a reason that I chose this cover image.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own "the Heroes of Olympus", I am just a big fan of the series. This story is based off of some of the characters and settings of "the Heroes of Olympus". Please take into consideration that I am a beginner of writing fanfiction. Don't be afraid to give constructive criticism. Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

It happened again. Within ten minutes of Mrs. Kopa's lecture, Alia had appeared in a bathroom stall. Alia groaned in frustration. Who knows how much trouble she'd be in. She'd hoped that her "curse" (what her mom called it) would have subsided over time, for it had already been 14 years later. No such luck.

It had started when she was only one year old, when she experienced her earliest memory. Her mom had been feeding her peas, when she suddenly teleported to her bedroom. It was just as well, though. Alia never liked peas. Ever since then, she had been known as a trouble maker. Her mischevious smile and upturned eyebrows didn't help her reputation, either. She had gotten countless detentions for her "immature and distracting pranks". Alia had tried to explain to everyone that she couldn't control it and didn't know what was going on. It was true too, for her ability was freaking herself out more than anybody else. Unfortunately, most people didn't know the expression "innocent until proven guilty". Her mom and her teachers loathed her. None of her fellow students were very friendly to her, either. Ever since school started, Alia had been driving on the path of "biggest freak in school".

Alia snapped out of her trance soon enough, to realize that she was still in a bathroom stall. Frantically, she checked the clock. There were five minutes until the period was over. Alia sighed. It was time to write another apology note.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Mrs. Kopa, you're so macho!**

Alia threw the bathroom door open and started walking to the classroom. A few people were walking in the halfway, and they flashed sneers at her. Ironically, disappearing all the time made her more noticeable. It wasn't in a good way. Alia wasn't necessarily sad that she didn't have any friends, and she didn't feel isolated by her acquaintances. She was just disgusted that people could act so cruelly and ignore her for something that she couldn't control. Everything besides her "ability" was relatively normal, in her opinion. She was average in height. She had an olive complexion, brown and wavy hair, and blue eyes. She liked normal things, too. Alia spent a lot of time reading, playing the saxophone, and playing basketball. Despite these standard traits, people treated her like she had devil horns.

Oh well. Having herself as company was good enough. She didn't need anyone else that didn't need her. It was like that her whole life.

After walking for some time in a trance, she reached the classroom. Somewhat nervous but anxious to get things over with, Alia pulled the door open.

Mrs. Kopa was sitting at her desk, writing on a piece of paper. She seemed quite absorbed in her work, not noticing Alia walk in. Alia tentatively trudged down the aisle from the door to the desk. Bracing herself for an angry lecture, she coughed and began to speak. Before she could start, Mrs. Kopa looked up and spoke herself.

"Hello, Alia." Mrs. Kopa began, startling Alia so that she crashed into the desks behind her. "I have been watching you very closely. It has been determined that you are a very… special person. You have an important task to complete. Using your power, go to Long Island, New York. Near a beach in Montauk, you will find a strawberry farm. Go to the farmhouse and call for help. Someone, er, interesting will assist you. Don't resist. You will find your way from there. Good luck." Then, Mrs. Kopa closed her eyes and rested her chin on her chest, like she was asleep. A few seconds passed, and Mrs. Kopa's head shot up. She looked around frantically, as if unaware of the recent events. She eventually fixed her gaze on a trembling Alia.

"Uh," Mrs. Kopa seemed very flustered. "What are you doing here? Get to class! You're lucky that you didn't get a lunch detention." Alia made a beeline for the door and exited as quickly as possible.

Surprisingly, what Mrs. Kopa said wasn't the most shocking part of the conversation. During the talk, the teacher spoke in a strange voice. In fact, it was not even female. The voice was deep and powerful, resonating all across the room. At that moment, Alia could almost imagine her with a mustache. The talk had scared Alia out of her wits. She didn't know if her teacher was really sick and delusional, or if Alia was hallucinating herself. Despite the abnormal events, that would be only one of the interesting things that were to happen all day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: More weird things happen (if that is even possible)**

Alia spent the rest of the school day in a daze. She barely heard what her teachers were saying, and she kept bumping into people. So much time was spent thinking about what had happened, she felt like her brain might burst. Also, she had the sudden feeling that she was in danger. The hairs of her neck kept standing up, and she would instinctively turn around to find nothing behind her. Yet, she felt as though she was being watched.

After school, Alia trudged home. Her family owned an average-sized house in Orange, New York. She loved her home. It wasn't too big or too small, and it was surrounded by grassland. Once Alia was inside, she walked up the stairs to her room. It was her favorite place to think and separate herself from the world. She walked in, and plopped herself down on her bed. Her head was spinning, swirling with thoughts of the day's events. What happened to Mrs. Kopa? Was is possible that she was sick and her voice changed? What was this strawberry farm in Montauk? It was clear that somebody was trying to send her a message, but what? She didn't want to avoid the subject, but if Alia thought about it any longer, she might've gone insane. Eyes drifting around the room, hoping for some helpful advice. Unfortunately, she doubted the tissue box could talk. Although, maybe it could. Everything else was going strangely today.

Just then, a flash of golden light appeared on her dresser. Alia yelped, recoiling in surprise. The burst of light disappeared, leaving a card on her dresser. Very slowly, Alia got up and tip-toed towards the dresser as if the card might attack her. She picked it up. It was a postcard from Montauk, Long Island. That couldn't be a coincidence. Something was very fishy, and it wasn't just the tuna hanging out on the front of the postcard. Finally, Alia faced the facts. She was going on a road trip.

* * *

 _Knock knock_ , Alia timidly hit her fist against the door to her mom's study. She had always been quite afraid of her mother. Usually, her mom was at work. Judy Lee had worked so many jobs just to stay away from Alia. Whenever Mrs. Lee was home, things didn't go well. Let's just say it involved a lot of yelling and slapping.

Her mom opened the door. Just like Alia, she had brown hair and blue eyes. Alia was not at all proud to look anything like her mother. Alia was greeted with that all too familiar scowl.

"What?" Mrs. Lee snapped.

"Can you drive me to a beach in Montauk?" Alia asked quietly.

"For what?" Mrs. Lee snarled.

"Um…" Alia contemplated. "In school, we were assigned to collect seashells and identify them." Alia hoped that was believable. She had usually been pretty good at lying. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Her mom had always been the queen of lies.

"You're trying to deceit me! I can see right through that guilty look of yours. Do you need to be slapped again?" Mrs. Lee raised her hand, about to strike Alia. Luckily, Alia realized a millisecond before it was too late. She dissolved into golden light, then disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4- I didn't know that monsters from my nightmares provided travel service!

Alia's internal compass started going wild, and her vision started to darken. When she came to, there seemed to be moist sand under her feet. The sound of lapping waves came from behind her. She opened her eyes to find herself on a beach. It was beautiful, the pink and orange sky reflecting on the cool blue water, smooth as glass. The sand was fine and felt cold on her toes. She looked to her right to see a sign. It said: "Welcome to Kirk Park Beach: Montauk, Long Island". It actually worked. Alia had never intentionally transported until then. All she had to do was find the strawberry farm that might be nearby. Having nothing else to do, she trotted off.

As Alia wandered on the streets, anticipation bubbled within her. She couldn't tell whether she was scared or excited. There was no telling what was waiting for her if she ever found the strawberry farm. Would it be a dragon that could spit out fire? Would it be a ghost that could tell the future? Having no social life had given Alia plenty of time to expand her imagination. Maybe it didn't have to be imagination though. After all that had happened, she wouldn't be surprised if she saw an elf casually strolling down the road.

Maybe this whole thing was a prank. In school, all the kids picked on her and played jokes on her. Alia had never thought teachers could be so cruel though. She supposed it was possible. Over time, she had learned not to trust the saying that implied that adults were noble. They indeed were not.

There was no better option. It was either this or go home and be smacked by her mom. At least there was a chance for excitement and escape. Besides, she still had bruises from the last encounter with Mrs. Lee.

 _All right_. Alia thought. _Let's go_.

She hadn't been walking for long, when she had heard a low growl behind her. Startled, Alia glanced back. After scanning the area, she couldn't find anything suspicious. It was probably a trick of the mind. She was about to turn her head back, when a large figure appeared out of thin air.

The tail was thin with a bunch of fur at the end. Muscle made up the back legs. It's body was covered in golden fur, glistening under the orange of the sunset. At first, Alia thought it was a lion. She was about 50% correct. The only reason it wasn't a lion was because it had talons instead of claws, long and skinny twigs instead of regular upper arms, and huge white wings extending from it's back. Oh yeah, and it had the head of an eagle. How did she know? Maybe the sharp beak and feathers gave it away.

Alia stared at it in horror for a few seconds, trying to process it all. She was too shocked to scream.

 _Oh great_. She thought. _More weirdness. As if I hadn't had enough of that for one day._ As strange as it was, the thing looked familiar to Alia. She could figure that out later. At that moment, running away was wiser that gaping at the creature, mouth wide open. So that's exactly what she did.

Still staring at the… thing, she took off as quick as lightning. It started running after her, running with incredible speed. As Alia sprinted as quickly as she could away from the beast, she couldn't help noticing that the people around her didn't seem frightened at all. In fact, they were just rolling their eyes and pointing. Maybe they were thinking,

 _Look at this girl. Being chased around by a lion-eagle freak thing. So irresponsible._

Alia knew she shouldn't have been thinking about that, but her ADHD always caused her to notice the little things instead of the big picture. Also, she had learned over the years that the big picture is not always pretty.

She was staring at the massive creature running after her and everyone else on the street, not paying attention on the road in front of her. Her foot caught on a crevice in the road, and the wind was whisked from her lungs as she fell onto the pavement. Her body slammed against the ground with a painful thud. A sharp pang of pain traveled throughout her side. Frantically, she turned on her back, panting hard. The eagle-lion freak thing bent over her, it's mouth wide open. It's beak was razor sharp, and it's breath smelled like… pickles? Getting slaughtered by this beast wasn't the last thing one would want to experience.

 _Idiot! Use your teleportation powers!_

Alia forgot that she could use her power for intentional purposes since it had only happened once. She wanted to go back home, even if it meant getting beaten by her mom. With all her might, Alia concentrated and tried to go back to her house, but her power seemed worn out. Trying to teleport again made her more tired than she already was. The beast was getting closer, closer still. Alia was already thinking about how lonely her funeral service would be. Her mom would probably just dig her up in the backyard. Alia squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the worst, when the creature nudged her with its beak. Slowly, Alia opened her eyes. The thing had its head lowered. Alia reached out tentatively and pat it's head. It started… purring. The beast turned around and flapped its wings a bit. Still shell-shocked and completely freaked out, the gears in Alia's head managed to turn. Did it… want to give her a ride? It's wing flapped again. Alia thought,

 _You know? Things couldn't be worse than they already are. Might as well hop onto the back of a winged half-eagle half-lion freak show that was chasing me earlier, and let it take me wherever it wants, completely blind of the destination. Ugh… What has my life come to?_

She stood up and hopped on the thing, a pang in her side where she fell. Sweat was wetting her face and her breaths came in short, shallow puffs.

"Please don't take me to a cave and have me for dinner, ok Mr. Beast Thingy?" Alia whimpered.

Obviously, no response from Mr. Beast Thingy. It just stomped it's back paws and took off, soaring into the pink sky.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5- A horse or not a horse? That is the question.

Alia had never gotten motion sickness, but she had never come closer to it when she rode on Mr. Beast Thingy. Wind ripped at her face, and her clothes flew in the wind. She could feel the mass of fur underneath her and hear the flap of giant wings as her ride drove her closer to the sunset. It couldn't have been possible for anything animal to fly that fast. Then again, it couldn't have been possible for this kind of animal to even exist.

 _Why do I not feel more weirded out by this?_ Alia pondered. _Is it possible that I'm adjusting to this real life circus?_ No matter what was going on, she knew that her life would never be the same again.

* * *

After a short period of time, Mr. Beast Thingy started to descent, landing in front of some… farm? Before her was a wide grassland. She didn't see any growing in sight, but she whiffed a strong scent of strawberries in the air. That was impossible, strawberries weren't anywhere near being in season. Far out in the grass a fading red barn stood. A huge pine tree stood next to it. The sun was almost down, the gradient blue sky contrasting the fluffy pink clouds. Alia hopped off. Her side still hurt like crazy, sending waves of pain up and down her body. Mr. Beast Thingy nudged her forward, towards the barn in the distance. What was she doing here? She didn't recognize this place at all. It was still nudging her with it's nose, telling her to go. Should she trust it? If it wanted to kill her, it would have done it a while ago. Maybe it was harmless… unless it wanted bigger plans for her in the barn. Either way, there was no turning back.

Suddenly, Alia felt a big, slimy thing slap against her arm. She whirled to her right in shock, met by an unpleasant surprise of Mr. Beast Thingy's tongue drenching her face. Disgusted and wet, Alia reached out and pet it on the head. It had been the strangest day of her life, but this might have been the weirdest part. Someone (something, for that matter) was actually being friendly to her? She had been paid attention to, but with kindness? Even if it was from a humungous lion/bird, it made her feel… grateful. She had never been more disgusted and happy at the same time.

 _Ok…_ Alia thought. _Am I ready to go? No. Well, too bad._ Alia tentatively walked towards the barn, ignoring her painful side. Once she walked far enough, she made it in past the giant pine tree. When she did, the atmosphere seemed to change. She couldn't explain why, but she felt… safer. There was something strange etched on the wood of the barn, in symbols of some sort. Somehow, she knew immediately that it meant "Satyrs for life!" How strange.

Alia walked onto the porch of the barn, her side hurting so much she winced. Knowing that she would regret her choice, she knocked on the white door. No one answered. Alia knocked again. Thirty seconds passed. A minute. When was someone going to answer? The anticipation was torture.

Finally, the door opened with a creak. A man in a wheelchair was at the doorway. He had a sharp, chiseled face. His hair and beard were brown with streaks of gray. The shirt he was wearing had faded text on it. "Camp Half-...Dood?" Was that what it said?

"Hello?" He inquired. Alia opened her mouth to speak, but a sob choked out instead. All the confusion and stress of the day came out in a hysterical cry.

"Please help me." She managed through tears. "I'm so confused. My teacher went through puberty again, a postcard appeared on my desk, I teleported to this beach, and an eagle-lion beast gave me a ride. He's right behind me." Alia knew she sounded insane, but she didn't care.

The man moved his head to look behind her. His eyes widened in surprise.

"You had better come with me." He rolled his wheelchair away from the door. At this point, Alia was beyond rational decision making. She wiped her tears and followed the stranger in the wheelchair.

* * *

The man lead her inside the barn. They were inside a room with a fireplace, a bench, a wooden table, and a tiger head on the wall. Ugh… doing that to a creature was so cruel.

The two went on until they reached a huge door on the other side of the room. He opened the door. A few steps lead to grassland below. He gestured Alia to go through.

"Ladies first." He said. Alia walked down the steps.

"How are you going to come down in your wheelchair?" She inquired.

"Um…" the man started. "This might startle you a bit." He began coming out of his wheelchair. One might expect normal human legs to separate from the wheelchair. For this man, the normal human legs seemed to be a part of the wheelchair. Horse legs crawled out of the legs that turned out to be no more than hollow tubes. Soon enough, against all laws of nature, a giant horse-thing stood in front of Alia. Instead of a normal horse head and neck, the man's upper body was attached, and his pitiful eyes looked down on Alia.

"My name's Chiron, half-horse half-human." Chiron introduced himself. "Also known as a centaur. I'm sorry if I scared you." She was staring at him, mouth open. Her eyes were large, but they could've been larger. Waking herself back up, Alia shook her head.

"It's alright Chiron, I've seen stranger." She said with a sigh. It began with a chuckle, but it couldn't stop once it started. He laughed heartily, scaring Alia. Soon enough, she started laughing too. It felt amazing to enjoy herself with someone else for once.

"Let's go." gestured Chiron. "We have a lot of talking to do."


End file.
